Of Souls and Sensory Input
by HopeyMcHope
Summary: During a maintenance session with Miu Iruma, Kibo (aka "Keebo") asks her a challenging question. Their maintenance gets increasingly intense from there.


K1-B0 - or, as he was known to the humans in his life, "Keebo" - was already laying on the table in Miu Iruma's lab before he asked "By the way, what's our plan for today?"

Miu had a socket wrench in hand and was leering over the coverings on his legs. "Eh?" she asked, suddenly shaken out of her focus. "I dunno," she said. "I'm just gonna poke around in your shit for a while and see what inspires my next ingenious upgrade!"

"I see... " Keebo said back. He was suddenly much less comfortable with today's 'maintenance' efforts.

"Don't worry your pretty lil' head about it," Miu told him, returning her attention to the inlaid bolts along this legs. She went to work on detaching them as she continued, "It's not like I'm a fuckin' amateur over here. You know that whatever you get from me, it's gonna be goddamn amazing, right?"

Keebo kept his eyes focused on the ceiling as he admitted, "It's true. You've never done anything but improve my performance and usefulness."

"Damn straight," Miu muttered. She licked her lips and exhaled heavily as she began to pull his left leg's thigh coverings off.

Keebo was too distracted to care about the sound of her panting, however. Instead...

"Do you believe I have a soul?"

She'd scarcely even begun, yet Miu promptly stopped what she was doing and sat up straight. She blinked rapidly and stammered "Who-wha- _what?_ " A second later her eyes stopped blinking and they narrowed, suddenly burning with disdain. Clenching her hands into fists, she demanded, "Who the _fuck_ has got you thinkin' about that?!"

Keebo propped himself up on his elbows and nervously stammered, "We-well... Ko-kokichi said-"

Before he could get any farther, Miu jumped to her feet and threw her socket wrench across her lab. Keebo covered his face with one hand and cringed as it _krresh-_ ed into the far wall. "That miserable fucking scrote!" Miu yelled. "I'm _done_ putting up with his bullshit, you get me?!" She lifted her hands to reveal they were again balled into fists as she muttered, "I'm gonna... I-I'm gonna fuckin', gonna fuckin'... I'll _tear out his testicles_ with a shit-with a goddamn _shitting_ -"

"Please calm down!" Keebo shouted with one hand extended towards her. "I am less concerned with Kokichi's insults than I am with my question!

"Erk!" Miu stumbled back at his outburst. Looking at the floor, she blushed as she mumbled "I'm... I'm s-sorry." As she lifted her gaze, however, she gritted her teeth. "It's just that that lying little afterbirth pushes _every button_ I've got."

"I... understand," Keebo told her, smiling a little. "He seems to have that affect on most of the group. And while I appreciate your urge to defend me, I really just want to hear your opinion."

Her eyes widened and began to flit back and forth wildly as Miu bit into her lower lip. "My, um... on... on what?"

Keebo seemed to exhale before he repeated, "On whether you believe I have a soul."

"OH!" Miu shouted, suddenly looking relieved. Normal coloration returned to her face, and she blew out a a breath she'd evidently been holding. Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she folded her arms. "Hrm." Miu paused before she said, "Sorry, but you're asking the wrong person."

Keebo's face fell slightly, and concerned etched its way into his expression. "Why do you feel that way?" he pressed. "I only want _your_ opinion, after all. Who _else_ would I ask for that?"

"No, you're getting me wrong," she insisted. "I mean you shouldn't ask me about that stuff, because I've never bought into any of that shit." She shrugged, almost as if she was apologizing for that fact. "People who talk about 'souls'... they usually believe in something." She tossed a dirty look towards the door of her lab as she added, "Probably not Kokichi, I guess. Knowin' him, he's just trying to stir shit up. I'd be surprised if that nasty-ass douche believed in _anything_. But most people that talk about that stuff... they do."

Miu scratched the side of her head with her right hand and walked forward, stepping up alongside the table where Keebo laid. She leaned her left hand on the table so close to his own hand that he jerked it away instinctively. Seeing his reaction, the tops of her cheeks reddened a little. "I, ah... " she began, momentarily distracted. "That is... " She closed her eyes and cleared her throat before continuing. "I don't believe in anything I can't see," she told him. "If a microscope ain't picking it up, it's not _there_ to me."

"I see," Keebo said as he looked back up into her eyes. "Therefore, things like ghosts, angels, souls, Atua... ?"

"All bullshit," she confirmed with a sweep with her right arm. " _Especially_ Atua. Look: Being an inventor means coming up an idea, then testing it. It means I have to follow the scientific method. I also have to understand how all the parts in what I'm gonna build interact with and affect each other in order to make 'em have the result that I want. So I'm part engineer, part scientist, _all_ practical."

"I see," Keebo said. He smiled a bit wistfully as he concluded, "You don't think I have one, then."

Miu blanched at his suggestion. "I-I mean... no. I don't," she acknowledged, feeling a bit guilty. She put her hands on her hips and looked away from him in shame just before she clarified, "But like, it's nothing personal. I don't think _I_ do, either."

Keebo cocked his head slightly. "Doesn't it sadden you to think that way?" he inquired. "It implies that one day, there will be nothing of you left."

Miu turned her head back to look at him again and smiled with a sudden kindness. "No, there _will_ be," she insisted. "I'll leave my inventions, my writings - even you."

Keebo's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Me?!" he yelped.

"You've got a solid-state sextuple-protected and double-backed memory core in there," Miu said flatly. "Your memories of me — they aren't gonna go anywhere." She flashed a cocky grin and said, "Maybe that's all the eternal life a girl needs, eh?"

Keebo's eyes seemed to quiver a bit. "Miu... I'm... glad. I'm glad I can serve that function for you."

With a grin, Miu reached out and snatched Keebo's hand in her own. From there, she crouched to bring herself closer to him. Keebo didn't turn away, but his eyes looked all over the room in panic. "M-Miu, I don't—what are you-"

"Shhh," she whispered to him, blushing slightly. "I just want you to know that as far as I'm concerned, anyone who can make their own decisions and follow their own desires is the same as anybody else. Understand?"

Keebo found himself wishing he had a swallowing functionality, because his mouth felt awfully dry. His face felt hot, too. "I... believe I do," he said. He pushed off with his right elbow so he could lean closer to her. "You mean to say that... you see me as equal to you?"

Miu closed her eyes and gave him a single nod. Opening them again, she whispered, "There's another thing, too."

Concerned, Keebo leaned his head closer. "Another thing... ?" he repeated. "I'm listening."

Miu's eyes darted away nervously. "Because I don't believe in any afterlife, I... I think that nothing we do here really _matters_ in any cosmic, morality-play, grand-drama way. And if nothing I do in life really matters, then... " Her eyes flicked up to lock with his. "Then _all_ that matters is what I do."

Keebo's brow furrowed in confusion. "What-"

He was cut off by the sensation of Miu's moist lips pressing up against his. It created a buzz of sensation in his mind, and it seemed as though he could feel the heat sink located within his chest rapidly getting hotter. He squeezed his left hand to hold hers more tightly, then decided to reach out with his right hand-

She broke the kiss and ripped her hand out of his, standing and turning away. "I'm... ss-sss... _shit_ , I'm sorry," she gasped.

Keebo blinked, still attempting to process what had happened. "I... that was... "

Looking back at him, she smiled awkwardly and said, "What I meant to say was that we gotta live our lives for _now_ , 'kay? Especially here."

Keebo's skin tone somehow looked paler than usual thanks to the bright red coloration in his face. He manage to choke out a dazed, "Okay."

Still turned away from him, Miu seemed to rub her face on her right forearm. Was she crying? "Look, we can... we, we didn't—I mean, maybe that didn't fuckin' happen, okay?" she said, chuckling nervously. "We can pretend it didn't. If ya want, I mean." Turning around to face him again, she smiled one of her usual confident smiles. Even with only 20/13 vision, though, Keebo could still see the moisture evident on her eyelashes.

Speaking carefully, Keebo posited: "What if I _don't_ want to act like it didn't happen?"

He smiled a nervous smile at her, trying to appear confident. For her part, Miu's face shifted from her self-assured grin to something far warmer. With a sharp inhale, she softly said, "Well then, that's... " She paused to swallow, and spoke with renewed bravado as she finished, "That means we're just getting _started_ , sweetie!"

With that, she let loose one of her gleeful cackles, causing Keebo to laugh — far more quietly, though yet no less happily — right along with her.

As their laughter died down, Keebo kept his smile up as well as he could. "So, ah... what does this ma-"

He was interrupted by Miu suddenly climbing atop the table and straddling his waist.

"Miu!" Keebo spat. "What are you doing?!"

"Living for now, obviously," she answered with a lecherous grin. "Ooh — I _love_ that you're so warm."

"Wait!" Keebo pleaded. "Before you go any further, can you tell me what this means?!"

Miu leaned over and let her hands land on either side of his head with a _slap_. Her breasts swung low overly Keebo's chest, causing him to gasp at the sight. All the while, Miu was looking at him like he was a simplistic idiot. Quietly, she informed him that "It means I _like_ you, ya dumbass." She smiled playfully and added. "I wanna, y'know... _do things_ to you."

The fluid that began to bead on Keebo's face looked, for all intents and purposes, identical to sweat. He only managed to mumble, "I-I... yes... ah... "

Miu frowned a little. "Do you not wanna do things to _me_?" she asked, shoving her lower lip out in a pouty expression.

"I... " Keebo said again. "No, that's... _yes_ , I mean... I'd _love_ to share that with you," he said finally. "It's just that I'd like to know what this makes _us_ first. I mean... does this mean we are a Romantic Pair-Bond?"

Miu smiled and blushed, looking away from his face shyly. "Oh man, you're such a cornball," she whispered affectionately. Looking back at him, she stared into his eyes and asked, "So... is that sort of 'pair-bond' something you'd want?"

Keebo stared back at her and put his hands up on her waist. "In fact, yes," he answered with sudden confidence. "Honestly, I'd rather have that kind of bond with a person before I start engaging in the... the _doing of the things_ you were previously referring to."

Miu's eyes seemed to light up. She beamed at him as she declared, "Then call me one-half of a pair, 'cause I'm all _yours_ , hotness!"

She leaned forward and planted another kiss on his lips — this one far more intense and passionate than the first. Keebo was shocked at the sensation, then tried to go along with it by pulling her closer and reciprocating her mouth movements with similar ones.

When she pulled away, she looked pleasantly surprised. She let out a little squeal of glee before she announced, "Not bad _,_ Robohunk!"

"I... I attempted to learn from your own kissing style as well as from what I've observed in films and television," he confessed sheepishly.

Miu giggled a bit, but covered her mouth with one hand to stifle the impulse. "Hey, works for me!" she assured him. "But did _you_ like it?"

"I genuinely did," he said with a smile. "And your current location astride my body is making some sort of lower sensors tingle... in a good way, I mean."

"Well _shit_ , we gotta get those sensors firing as hard as we can!" Miu decided joyously. "Don't worry - I remember which parts always make you scream the most when I touch 'em," she said with pride.

Keebo looked at her in confusion. "I feel both alarmed and intrigued," he said.

"Then you're right where I want you," Miu fired back. She rubbed her hands together excitedly. "Trust me: This is gonna be better than getting fully charged right after a fresh round of maintenance."


End file.
